There Are Shark Guts In Your Lipstick?!

If the word squalene shows up in the ingredient list in your cosmetics, skin creams, or beauty products, you might be slathering shark guts all over your face…

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If the word squalene shows up in the ingredient list in your cosmetics, skin creams, or beauty products, you might be slathering shark guts all over your face. Yes, that’s right! Shark guts! Squalene comes from shark liver oil and is threatening the extinction of one of the most important species in the world while endangering your health. And guess what, it’s probably in the lipstick you’re wearing right now.

Shark oil, marketed as squalene is a product used in many cosmetic and beauty products because of its moisturizing qualities. Despite the fact that it can be extracted from plants much safer, easier and cleaner, it has historically been cheaper to get it from shark. Meaning, that without you even knowing it, you’re likely wearing a fish oil, full of heavy metals and toxic chemicals all over your face.

What we once thought was a healthy and safe beauty product has been exposed as a toxic goo. The moisturizers and cosmetics we smother onto our faces, the lipstick we wear on our lips, are destroying the oceans, killing sharks and threatening our health- without us even knowing it.

Squalene is available in plant based sources such as olive oil, flaxseed and amaranth. Traditionally, it was more expensive to extract the product from plants than it was from shark sources. This drove the demand for shark products through the roof and despite the fact that there is now education available on the topic, some in the beauty industry aren’t looking to change their ways just to keep costs down. Companies eager to “trim the fat” continue to opt for the cheapest source of squalene, which is sadly driving shark species to extinction while putting our health at risk.

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Award winning Canadian filmmaker and global champion for shark conservation Rob Stewart has been the leading advocate for exposing the billion industry that is threatening the extinction of this species. His highly anticipated new film Sharkwater Extinction documents the disappearance of more than 150 million sharks each year as a result of extreme corruption. With 90% of the shark population destroyed in under 40 years, the oceans are suffering immensely and so are we.

Because there is no official regulatory body governing the harvesting and use of squalene, there is no one stopping people from selling shark oil compounds or hiding it in the items you put on your skin and the skin of your children each and every day. There is also nothing stopping these companies from using squalene that is full of extremely dangerous toxins such as mercury and PCBs.

Products that are labelled “all natural” and even “organic” can still be full of shark oils. Read your ingredient list carefully to make sure you aren’t endangering your health while contributing to the extinction of a species by rubbing its guts all over your face!

Next time you put on your lipstick, do it with a clear conscience. No sharks were killed for my luscious red lips!